CANADA WILDLIFE HOLIDAYS & TOURS

Canada's popular locations including Vancouver Island, Great Bear Rainforest and Churchill are all represented here with many first class wildlife lodges; together with some different wildlife holiday destinations in eastern Canada including around Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.

Selected Accommodation

Canada is an enchanting wildlife holiday destination and across the continent you will find delightful, often owner run and managed lodges of high quality. British Columbia is perennially popular and hence our selected accommodation is weighted towards this province.

Truly a memorable holiday It was a good lodge with a really nice atmosphere for the kids and completely geared to coping with children; our every need was catered for. Furthermore, the wildlife watching was fantastic with very knowledgeable guides. Really excellent food and very quiet.The E. Family - London

Canada

Whales, orcas, polar bears and grizzly bears are just some of the highlights of our wildlife holidays in Canada. Where the boreal forests meet the tundra and the mountains meet the sea this huge land offers stunning wilderness and natural experiences from coast to coast.

Travelling in Canada is easy and Canucks welcoming and warm people. A good aviation network means remote destinations can be reached by either scheduled aircraft or chartered floatplanes. However, most of the holidays requested are self-drive tours through British Columbia and sometimes Alberta. Less often we get travellers wanting to visit Quebec and the east coast, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, where too there are some great wildlife experiences to be found. Others will fly up to Churchill, Manitoba for the polar bear safaris during the short summer months when they are out on the flower filled tundra or in early winter when the snows have arrived yet Hudson Bay has not yet frozen and the polar bears remain on solid land.

The most popular destination by far is Vancouver Island, easily reached from cosmopolitan Vancouver and with a good choice of lodges and hotels. On the Pacific coast you will find the small towns of Ucluelet and Tofino, the latter being a base for whale watching and walks on lonely beaches. On the inner, more sheltered side of Vancouver Island it is possible to search for resident orca pods and humpback whales from places like Campbell River and Telegraph Cove, in the waters between the island and the mainland coast of BC. This coast is also the stepping off point for float planes into a bear watching and wildlife lodges although flights to some lodges can be taken direct from Vancouver. Several days in at one of these lodges, particularly in June or September when the grizzly bears are most active, are memorable wildlife days. The number of lodges set in the deep fjords along this protected coast are increasing annually, each offering slightly different experiences and you should be careful in choosing a lodge to meet your expectations.

For those who like their wilderness and wildlife then we would recommend flying into one of the remote lodges in the interior of BC or further north in the Yukon.

Seasons

Really enjoyed our morning bear watching, a one to one tour as it was only the two of us and two Indians (First Nations) Our guides were so good and we learnt an awful lot about bears and their behaviour. Excellent.Mr. & Mrs. P. - Warwickshire

Tetanus is recommended. You should consult your G.P. for up to date and precise details before travelling.

WEATHER

How can you describe the weather in Canada?! From the extreme Arctic winters to hot summers on the 49th parallel. Most people visit during the summer months when temperatures are often in the 20°C range. Autumn temperatures fall although can still be pleasant. Winter throughout Canada can be harsh. In the mountains of British Columbia and the Yukon snowfall can be expected at almost anytime of the year in bad weather. As a point of note for those travelling to BC, Vancouver Island causes a rain shadow for Vancouver and the aptly named Sunshine Coast to the north of the city.